A Second Glance
by FlamingSky
Summary: When Iggy discovers that Dr. Hans has the ability to give him back his eye sight, the blind pyro doesn't know what to think. As things begin to spiral out of control, Iggy must make an important choice... His eyes or his friends?


_A/N : Hello people, Skye here! I know, I know, I shouldn't be writing another fic when I have others I'm working on. But I couldn't help it! I've had this idea stuck in my head for a few days and it was just screaming at me to write it. So I did. Anyway, enjoy! (By the way, this takes place after FANG in case you wanted to know ;D)_

**Chapter 1 : Broken Glass**

I'd been standing in the snow for almost two hours.

I watched as little kids raced around in front of me, tumbling and laughing in the fresh snow. A snowball fight erupted where all the boys teamed up against the girls. I think the boys underestimated how vicious little girls could be though, because soon the boys held up their gloved hands in surrender, each one wet with melted snow. Parents stood off to my right, chatting with each other but still keeping a watchful eye on their kids. For a moment I wondered what it was like. To be careless and free. To have parents that cared. To have eyes that worked _every_ day, _all_ the time.

I came to this small town just about every other day now. It was high in the mountains, secluded, and best of all, almost always snowy. Which meant that I could _see._ God, it was great to see. But at the same time, it made the pain of being blind even worse. Because eventually I had to leave. I had to turn my back on the snow and return to my friends and the darkness that came with them. Not that I didn't love my friends. I did. But they could never understand what I was going through, no matter how hard they tried. They got to see all the time. But me, all I had were these few hours in the snow, these few hours where I got my eyes back.

Nobody really noticed I was gone when I went on these little excursions. Ever since Fang left, things had been different. All the mixed feelings about Max and Fang being together had all but vanished, turning into a hollow grief. We might have been upset but we didn't want Fang to _leave._ I mean, I know the guy had had our best interests at heart but his leaving had only made things worse. Max cried more than I had ever heard (in her room of course, she hated crying in front of us). She tried to be strong but we could all tell she was completely broken inside. Nudge and Angel just walked around the house sniffling and Gazzy hardly ever laughed anymore. Dylan… well we hadn't seen Dylan since Total's wedding. And me? Well, I've always been pretty good at hiding my emotions. But you could say these trips into the mountains were my way of dealing with things, even though they left me feeling empty afterwards.

I figured it was time to head home when I noticed a few of the parents looking at me suspiciously. Best to leave before some paranoid mom called the cops. With another sigh, I spun around, walking silently into the trees. In a fairly open clearing, I snapped my wings open and made a running leap into the air, my wings pounding down in fast, smooth strokes. In no time I was soaring above the now familiar town. I spared one final glance at the playing kids before I turned in the direction of home, wincing slightly as my vision turned black.

* * *

"Hey, Iggy!" Gazzy said as I stepped into the house. His voice came from about eight feet in front of me which meant he was sitting on the couch. I walked over and flopped down next to him, not even bothering to take off my coat.

"Hey Gasman, what's up?"

"Nothing," he answered sadly. "Where have you been?"

"Oh you know… just flying around."

"For four hours?"

I shrugged. There was really no reason to tell anyone about where I was going. They'd just worry. "I lost track of time."

Gazzy sighed. "Well you didn't miss much here, it's been super boring….. Hey, I have an idea! How about we watch a movie?"

"Sounds good," Even though I couldn't technically _watch_ a movie, I was up for anything to get my mind off of things and I was sure Gazzy felt the same. I reached over to our DVDs, running my fingers along them and listing their different colors under my breath. Orange. Red. Blue. Black? I picked up the black one and held it up for Gazzy to see. "What's this one?"

I felt him shrug. "I dunno. Looks gory though."

I grinned. "Perfect."

My hand found the open button on the DVD player automatically and I heard the familiar popping sound it made as it slid open. Unfortunately, when I went to put the movie in I found that another one was already there. Strange. We hadn't watched a movie in weeks. Frowning, I pointed to the disc and looked in Gazzy's direction. "What's this?"

The Gasman came up beside me. "I don't know, but it's not a regular movie. Should we watch it?"

You ever heard of the phrase "curiosity killed the cat"? Yeah, well the saying was basically invented for me and Gazzy. So instead of being a good little boy and just putting the mystery DVD aside, I pushed it back in with a smile. "Totally."

If only I had ignored that cursed DVD.

Gaz and I both gasped in surprise as the essence of evil himself, Dr. Hans appeared on the screen. His voice began to flow from the TV and I listened intently. What the hell was a video of Dr. Hans doing here?

"Hello Max. You ran out a bit quickly today," as the Dr. spoke, my breathing began to increase. So Max knew about this? Why hadn't she told us? Snapping myself from my thoughts, I refocused on the TV.

"… I am the leading expert on stem cell research, bar none. Growing an organ in a dish and implanting it is rather an elementary process for me and my team compared to limb regeneration." Key words began popping up in my head. Organ. Regeneration. Oh, God.

"… Were you to join forces with me, doors would open up for you and your flock." Dr. Hans paused for a moment. I was on the edge of the couch, my nails digging into the cushion.

"For example," the man continued. "Wouldn't one of your boys love a brand-new pair of these?"

I heard Gazzy gasp beside me and I could barely breath. My heart pounded at a million miles per hour. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the Dr. was talking about. Eyes. _My_ eyes. He could fix my eyes.

And Max knew.

Max _knew_.

Max knew and she didn't even tell me.

I buried my head into my hands, emotions raging. Tears forced their way out of my eyes and I felt them trickle down my cheeks.

"Iggy… I… I didn't…" the Gasman stuttered, his shock almost as great as my own. It was obvious he hadn't known. So who else had Max lied to?

It was at that moment when the great Maximum herself decided to make an entrance.

I heard her light footsteps as she walked into the room and I had to push my palms into my forehead to keep from punching something. Or someone.

"Hey guys!" Max's voice was thick but she was obviously trying to keep it light. "What's going…" She broke off and I heard a sharp intake of breath. I could tell by the silence that she was taking it all in; Gazzy's expression, my rigid form, Dr. Hans paused on the screen. After a long painful moment, she finally spoke.

"Iggy." Her voice cracked.

One word. That's all I got? That's all she had to say? Something inside me shattered and I rose slowly to my feet, my fists clenched in anger.

"How could you?" I was surprised by the venom in my voice, the deep, chilling coldness. "After all we've been through together, after all we've lived through… how _could_ you?"

"Iggy, I didn't… I didn't think…"

I cut her off, my voice rising a few octaves. "Didn't think what? Didn't think I would discover your precious little secret? Yeah you're right, you _didn't_ think! All this time you've know there was a chance for me to see again and you didn't say a word! You looked at me every single freaking day and you said _nothing_! _Nothing,_ Max! How long have you know? Weeks? Weeks of knowing and you didn't think it was worth _mentioning_ to me?" I was full out screaming now and I punched through the TV in anger. Glass went flying and Gazzy let out a little shriek as he leapt away from me. Blood trickled down my arm, dripping slowly onto the carpet. I didn't care. The physical pain was a nice relief from the mental kind.

Angel and Nudge came sprinting into the room and I could feel shock rolling off of them like waves.

"Oh my god… Iggy, your arm! What's going on?" Nudge exclaimed.

I winced as I pulled a piece of glass out of my skin. "Ask Max," I suggested bitterly.

"Ig…" I felt Max take a slow step towards me. By the way she was sniffling, I could tell she was trying not to cry. "I'm so sorry. I just didn't want to get your hopes up for nothing. We couldn't team up with Dr. Hans. You have to know that."

"Of course I would've known that you idiot!" I snapped, hissing through the pain in my arm. "But I deserved to _know_! It wasn't your secret to keep!"

Angel and Gazzy were crying a few feet away from Max. Nudge just stood there in a shocked, confused silence. I guess they'd never seen me this angry before. Maybe I never _had_ been this angry before.

"Of course you did. I'm so sorry," Max took another step towards me. "Please, Iggy, just let me look at your arm."

"No," I took a step towards the kitchen, not letting her get any closer. I could feel the adrenaline draining out of me and my anger was slowly being replaced by a deep sadness. I didn't even have the energy to yell anymore. I turned away from them, not wanting them to see the tears streaking down my face. "Sorry doesn't cut it. Not anymore."

I walked slowly to my room, making sure to close and lock the door behind me. I slid to the ground, too tired to walk any farther. My arm was throbbing and I could feel a major headache coming on. Crap. With a sigh, I began the tedious task of picking the small shards of glass from my arm, cringing as fresh blood flowed from the wounds. I reached for a shirt on the floor and wrapped it carefully around the worst of the cuts.

Man I was tired. How long ago was it that Gazzy asked me to watch a movie? Minutes? It felt like hours. I let my heavy lids fall closed, wishing that I could go back to this morning when I still had my friends to trust and confide in. Now I felt utterly alone. Maybe a few hours of carefree unconsciousness would do me good… just a few hours to escape from everything…

Only one problem.

My worries have this nasty habit of following me.

_A/N : -sniffles- Poor Iggy…. D: _

_Well, I hope you liked it! Reviews are greatly appreciated! ;)_

_-Skye _


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